March 3, 2014

Hey Everyone!

   This week was a good one! Two more children of God were baptized on Saturday. They both were from Baywood ward but I taught them both for a very long time and they asked me to participate in their baptisms. I had the privilege of becoming close friends with both of them and I'm so happy for how far they have come. One of them is a sweet, 91 year old woman who pretty much waited till the last second to be baptized.

   We went on a hike this morning. Well, maybe it was more of a climb. We did a trail called Flat Iron. It's probably the hardest hike I've ever done. One reason why, it was to the top of the Superstition Mountains. And two, we lost the trail. Because of the latter we were forced along a much more difficult, dirty climb which brought us to the point of scaling the cliffs. It was pretty intense.

   The scenery of it all was beautiful. The top was incredible. You could see the entire valley. The 4 mile ascent to 3000 feet elevation was definitely worth it. We spent about an hour up at the top before we decided to make our journey down. The trek down the mountain was much easier. It was interesting to me. On the way down I felt comfortable enough to look down less. As I did this I noticed painted blue dots marking the trail in places I hadn't noticed before. Because of this we were able to stay on the trail in a much safer descent back to the car.

   It made me think further. Am I looking to the places in life that I need to be in order to stay on the trail? It made me think of the scriptures. I read my scriptures every day out here on my mission but back home there were many days that I neglected to do so. I could definitely see the difference it made in my days when I chose to obey The Lord and read. I was able to see the blue dots that Heavenly Father put in my life to keep me on the trail.

   It's very comforting to know that our Father in Heaven loves us enough to put marks on the trail to keep us from danger. We simply need to make the effort to look ahead and see them. They are right in front of our faces as long as we look where God would have us look.

   Sincerely, Elder Earl